Advertisement

Origin and history of cloven

cloven(adj.)

"divided, split," Old English clofen, past-participle adjective from cleave (v.1). Sometimes shortened to clove, hence clove-hitch (1769), etc. Cloven hoof, characteristic of ruminant quadrupeds (and ascribed in mythology to Pan and the Devil) is from c. 1200.

Entries linking to cloven

cleave(v.1)

"to split, part or divide by force," Middle English cleven, from Old English cleofan, cleven, cliven "to split, separate" (class II strong verb, past tense cleaf, past participle clofen), from Proto-Germanic *kleuban (source also of Old Saxon klioban, Old Norse kljufa, Danish klöve, Dutch kloven, Old High German klioban, German klieben "to cleave, split"), from PIE root *gleubh- "to tear apart, cleave."

Past tense form clave is recorded in Northern writers from 14c. and was used with both verbs (see cleave (v.2)), apparently by analogy with other Middle English strong verbs. Clave was common to c. 1600 and is preserved in KJV; the weak past tense cleaved for this verb also emerged in 14c.; cleft is still later. The past participle cloven survives in compounds.

    Advertisement

    More to explore

    chelicerae
    proboscis of a scorpion or spider, 1831, plural of Modern Latin chelicera, from Greek khēlē "crab claw, talon, pincers; cloven...
    cleft
    "split, cloven," from Proto-Germanic *kluftis (compare Old High German chluft, German Kluft, Danish kløft "cleft, fissure...
    clove
    large bulb, as of garlic," Old English clufu "clove (of garlic), bulb, tuber," from Proto-Germanic *klubo "cleft, thing cloven...
    attach
    mid-14c. (mid-13c. in Anglo-Latin), "to take or seize (property or goods) by law," a legal term, from Old French atachier "fasten; arrest" (11c.), earlier estachier "to attach, fix; stake up, support" (Modern French attacher, also compare Italian attaccare), from a- "to" (see ad-
    adjoin
    c. 1300, "unite (something to something else), ally" (a sense now obsolete); late 14c. as "be contiguous with, be adjacent to," from Old French ajoin- stem of ajoindre "join together, unite," from Latin adiungere "fasten on, harness, join to," from ad "to" (see ad-) + iungere "to
    agglutinate
    1580s, "unite or cause to adhere," from Latin agglutinatus, past participle of agglutinare "fasten with glue," from ad "to" (see ad-) + glutinare "to glue," from gluten "glue" (from PIE *glei-; see glue (n.)). Related: Agglutinated; agglutinating. Perhaps suggested by the earlier
    make
    Old English macian "to give being to, give form or character to, bring into existence; construct, do, be the author of, produce; prepare, arrange, cause; behave, fare, transform," from West Germanic *makōjanan "to fashion, fit" (source also of Old Saxon makon, Old Frisian makia "
    teem
    "abound, swarm, be prolific," Old English teman (Mercian), tieman (West Saxon) "beget, give birth to, bring forth, produce, propagate," from Proto-Germanic *tau(h)mjan (denominative), from PIE root *deuk- "to lead." Related to team (n.) in its now-obsolete Old English sense of "f
    meet
     Middle English mēten, from Old English metan "to find, find out; fall in with, encounter, come into the same place with; obtain," from Proto-Germanic *motjanan (source also of Old Norse mæta, Old Frisian meta, Old Saxon motian "to meet," Gothic gamotijan), from PIE root *mo
    mete
    "to allot," Old English metan (West Saxon mæton), "to measure, ascertain the dimension or quantity of; measure out; compare; estimate the greatness of value of" (class V strong verb; past tense mæt, past participle meten), from Proto-Germanic *metana "to measure" (source also of

    Share cloven

    Advertisement
    Trending
    Dictionary entries near cloven
    Advertisement